SMK Chapter 18 (Day 9)

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"What are you doing here again?" David's frozen glare bore a hole right through him.

Fred sat in the chair, thankful as always that he was on the "free" side of the bullet-proof plexiglass.

"What do you think I'm doing here?" David just continued to stare, and he began to feel slightly uncomfortable – exactly what David wanted. He leaned forward and placed his forearms on the surface of the small counter in front of the glass. Fine. He'd play it David's way. "It's time. We need to make our move, Davy."

"Are things in place?"

"Not really, but we can't waste any more time."

David sat forward, braced his elbows on his knees, and rested his chin lightly on steepled fingers. There was absolutely no expression on his face or in his voice when he spoke. "We don't move until everything is in place."

"Damn it, Davy. You've been in here too long. You've forgotten how good he is." Fred sat back forcefully into his plastic chair. "Scarecrow is going to out-maneuver us if we give him any more time. We've got to play our cards before we don't have any left to play!"

Surprisingly, David sat back and studied him thoughtfully. "Okay, what's going on?"

Fred sat forward again. "Scarecrow has somehow managed to avoid letting Mrs. King ever be alone. And he's not leaving it up to other people; it's like he's glued to her side." Fred shook his head. "Even when he isn't with her – like when I've seen him conferencing in Billy's office, Mrs. King is nowhere to be found. She's not in their office, she's not in the bull-pen, hell, she's not even in the bathroom."

"Hmmm." Davy slowly rubbed his chin with his index finger. "I wonder where they're stashing her, then?"

"I'm not sure, but I've got a theory." Fred lowered his voice.

David raised his eyebrows. "So?"

"I think they've created a safe house off their office."

That got David's attention. He sat forward and actually whispered conspiratorially. "No…."

"I'm not sure how, but it's the only thing that makes sense." Fred rubbed the back of his head as if thinking too hard gave him a headache. "Rumor has it they never leave the building. Supposedly, they stay late and arrive early, but nobody is really buying that."

"Yeah, that's a long shot. I don't buy it either." Davy was deep in thought. His fist slammed forcefully onto the countertop and made Fred jump. "How is he always one step ahead of us?" David looked around, realizing he may have brought attention to himself, but no one was looking. He put his head into his hands and grabbed his hair in his fingers. "Think, think, David…"

He sat back again. "Okay. Let's think this through." He ticked a finger, counting things off. "He's not a coward – in fact, neither of them is. Therefore, they can't just be hiding, agreed?"

"Agreed. They have to be doing something productive which means they are investigating from wherever they are."

Davy's head nodded slowly as he ticked off another finger. "Mrs. Marsden's desk is right near the bottom of the only stairs that lead up to their office. Therefore, you can't go up there to lure them out because she would see you. The Agency would know you're involved."

"Right. But June won't be able to do it alone."

"True." Davy was deep in thought again. Fred could almost see the wheels turning.

"Hmmm…" He sat forward. "Is there any way to slip Amanda something to knock her out or make her sick? To disable her somehow without anyone knowing?"

"Maybe," Fred hesitated. "I'd have to think about that, but what would be the point? What's the end game of that?"

"Just thinking out loud." David rubbed his chin with his hand. "Maybe we can figure out a way to separate them and then use her to control Scarecrow." He looked at Fred – there was a strange, far-away look on his face. "What are you thinking?"

As the thoughts began clicking together in Fred's mind, a plan began to form. "I've got an idea," he admitted, "but let me think through a few things before I implement it." He stood from his chair; their time was about up anyway. "I'll let you know how it goes."

David watched him as, with a quick, half-wave goodbye, he walked out the door into the freedom David hadn't experienced in three years – and maybe never would again. But at least he wasn't going to go down alone. He was already in here for life, they couldn't take anything more from him except his miserable existence. But he sure could take something from them. And Fred had a plan. Maybe this one would work.


Day 11

"I need to get out of this building, Lee. I'm going stir-crazy."

Lee jumped as the pile of files Amanda had been holding thwacked onto his desk. They'd been trying for two days to come up with a way to corner Fred or June…or both, but nothing was coming together.

"Sheesh! Scare me to death next time, why don't you!" Lee leaned back in his desk chair and looked up at her. She stood there with hands on her hips and a defiant look on her lovely face. Her look of sheer frustration amused him. "Well…" he drew out the word almost seductively. "I can think of some entertaining things we could do inside the building." He winked at her.

Amanda's stance didn't move one iota – nor did her facial expression. "Not gonna' work this time, Stetson." Her eyes drilled into his. "I'm serious. I've got to get out of here."

Lee sighed. Slowly, he pushed his chair back and paused to gaze at her. Standing to his feet, he came around the desk, sat on the edge of it, and crossed his arms. "Amanda…"

"Don't you dare 'Amanda' me."

Lee clamped his mouth shut and gazed at her as he tried to navigate his mind around how to reason with her. He stood and held his arms out, "Sweetheart…"

Both of her hands came up in the universal "stop" gesture. "I don't want a hug, Lee. I want out." She paused, and tears sprang into the corners of her eyes. "I miss my house; I miss my boys…and I really want to talk to my mother."

"I know, I know…" An idea materialized in his brain. "Hey. I have an idea…" Amanda's eyebrows raised. "Why don't I call Leatherneck and have him drop a car off near the exit door of the underground tunnel. We'll go out to lunch, swing by your house, you can call your mother and the boys, and then we can figure out the rest of the day from there. Huh?"

A smile lifted the corners of her lips just slightly. "Really?"

Lee smiled his signature big smile – the one that brought out the dimples. "Really! What do you say?"

Amanda closed her eyes in relief. "I say that's a plan, Big Fella."


Ah, it felt so good to be home! She really hadn't been here much since mother and the boys had gone out of town; she'd been staying at the apartment she shared with her husband.

Huh. Her husband. It wasn't that she had thought she would never get married again…she turned to look at Lee sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper…but gosh he was so special. Yes, he was handsome, smart, funny, exciting, romantic…and those things could make her heart skip a beat and her stomach do a flip-flop, but they weren't the important things. Nobody would be handsome, smart, funny, or exciting forever; there was so much more to him than that. Besides, those things could quickly become unimportant when hard times came – she knew that from experience. No, it was something deeper inside him.

She was obviously drawn to men who were willing to make sacrifices for what they believed in. It was a scary thought, really. Look at Joe's passion for the Emergency Aid Organization he still worked for. And Lee gave his life for his country nearly every day. Joe had left her because she got in the way of his passion. Lee might be taken away from her some day because of his passion for his country. Why was it different?

She stood at the kitchen counter and sipped her tea as she looked at him. Then it hit her. While Joe had given her up for his job, Lee had proven over and over again that she was more important than his job. How many times had he risked his standing at the Agency – and even his life – to protect her, to save her, to be with her? Countless. She drank him in with her eyes. Forever would not be long enough with this man.

She walked into the den and sat on the other end of the sofa. Turning her body to put her leg up on the cushion and her back against the arm rest, she sipped her tea some more and continued to watch him.

"Uh, have I grown a second head I'm not aware of, Amanda?" Just barely lowering the newspaper, he gazed over the top of it at her.

She smiled. "No, I was just thinking about how much you've changed." He just looked at her, waiting for an explanation. "Remember when you first started coming to my house how you hated the idea of being 'normal'?"

He chuckled, folded the newspaper, and set it down on the coffee table. "Uh-huh. I remember. I was mortified by the thought." He shook his head. "Looking back, I'm not sure how you put up with that arrogant, self-centered man."

"Ah," Amanda shook her head. "There was more to you than that, even then."

"I guess." He didn't look like he believed her. "Why did you put up with me, anyway?"

"Hmmm…" she looked off into the corner, exaggerating her answer. "Good question." She shifted her eyes back toward him. "Well, I was intrigued, I guess."

"Intrigued?" Lee looked skeptical.

"Yes," she smiled. "Intrigued. And maybe…" She held her thumb and forefinger out with a small distance between them. "…a mite smitten."

He grinned that crooked grin of his; she could almost see his head grow. "Smitten, huh?"

"A little."

Lee quite literally had his tongue in his cheek as he smirked at her. "Uh-huh. Just a little." A dangerous light began to glow in his eyes – just seconds before he lunged at her. "I'll show you a little smitten," he growled as his fingers found the ticklish spots between her ribs.

Amanda tried to squirm away, but she had no place to go. "Lee!" she gasped between bouts of laughter. "Stop it, stop it!" She tried to push him away, but he was firmly positioned on top of her, and he was just too big.

"I'll teach you to say just 'a little' smitten!" His mischievous, wicked laugh fluttered onto the delicate skin of her ear; she felt herself shiver lightly. He stopped rather abruptly and stared down into her eyes. "Of course, maybe there are better ways to help you admit it." His gaze deepened and drifted across her face and down to her mouth.

The phone rang. Everything paused, and his mouth hovered over hers as they waited to hear who it was.

"Amanda, it's Mother. Are you there?"

Lee jerked back as if he'd been caught doing something wrong. "Seriously?"

"Amanda, I've been trying and trying to get ahold of you," Mother's voice continued. "Where are you? I'm beginning to worry!"

Lee tumbled off the sofa as Amanda pushed him away and jumped up for the phone. She grabbed the receiver from the hook. "I'm here, Mother! I'm here!" Amanda looked over at Lee. He shook his head and flopped over on his back right there on the floor. Amanda grinned, amused at his frustration.

"Amanda, where have you been?" Dotty scolded. "I've been trying to get ahold of you!"

"I'm sorry, Mother." She looked down at the answering machine and saw the blinking light indicating there were messages waiting for her. The number on the machine read "2." At least it wasn't ten. "I've been out running errands and haven't even looked at my messages."

There was a pause on the other end. "Right," There was another pause, and then. "Hello, Lee! I'm assuming you're there, too."

Lee's eyes slammed open and collided with Amanda's. He gave a silent "humph" of amusement and closed his eyes again. Even from Europe, she had the worst timing.

Amanda grinned. "He says hello back, Mother."

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